Piedmont Wine Region

(Peed · maant)

My region is called “Piemonte” (pee-ay-MONT-ay) in Italy, which translates to “at the foot of the mountains,”Piedmont is one of the country’s and the worlds most venerated regions for wine production. For good reason which you will discover during your signature tasting with me a Somm trained by the Association of Italian Sommeliers.

 An area of about 9,800 square miles located in the northwest of Italy, Piedmont is home to five sub-regions that produce distinctive, appellation wines.

The two best known wines are made from the Nebbiolo grape and are named after the villages of Barolo and Barbaresco. But it’s not only all about the reds here: Piedmont’s white wines have a respectable pedigree and are growing in popularity due to revivals of ancient grapes. 

Il Nizza

Along with the Barolo Barbaresco powerhouse couple, the new kid to enter the big leagues is Il Nizza made with 100% Barbera from the geographic area surrounding Nizza this wine ages beautifully and made with selected grapes with limited production and aged a minimum of 18 months of which 6 months must be in wood. The Riserva is more rigorous with a minimum aging of 30 months of which 12 months must be in wood (the size of the barrique or botte or tonneaux and exact length of aging is at the discretion of the winemaker).

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In addition we have Dolcetto a very traditional grape that can be drunk young and fruity or aged, many producers hold a form of Dolcetto a must try.

We should not forget to mention the aromatics, that heady scent of fruit and flowers to round off the meal are sensational.

But how about I tell you a bit about the whites, we do have some internationals like chardonnay (also used in ALTA LANGA our elegant sparkling wine made using the Champagne method) but the home grown are the real stars. Often single variety (blending is not something we do much here in this region) a few are Favorita, Arnies, Timorasso and Cortese.

In a sea of red wines Whites hold their own. You will find elegance strength and longevity. Several of them have been revived after near extinction: Arneis, grown primarily in Roero and Langhe originally to blend with Barolo and now it stands alone as an elegant always expressive white of character;

Timorasso, an ancient grape that has enjoyed a revival in the Derthona subzone; this is sometime called the white Barolo as it has a great aging potential and develops wildly complex flavours as it ages.

Both of these great white feature in my tour of the region. Other whites include Cortese, the grape in Gavi, in the southeastern area; Favorita, the local name for Vermentino; and Moscato Bianco, from the Asti region.

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History of Piedmont

Historically part of the Kingdom of Savoy, Piedmont was instrumental in steering Italy’s Risorgimento (“rising again”), the 19th-century social and political movement that unified the Italian states into the single kingdom of Italy in 1861. Its alliance with France during the upheaval was politically strategic and French influences are still felt today in Piemontese culture, gastronomy and wine. Because of this, the region is often compared to Burgundy.

Nebbiolo, Piedmont’s most famous grape, is native to the region. Its first recorded reference dates to 1268. Later references include a 1402 order from the town of La Morra, located in the Barolo region, punishing anyone caught damaging Nebbiolo vines. In 1799, Count Giuseppe Nuvolone-Pergamo, the deputy director of the Agrarian Society of Turin, who is credited with creating the first definitive list of Piedmont’s wine grape varieties, included the grape and its subtypes on his master list.

Fast forward to the mid-20th century when Barolo and Barbaresco are awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) status in 1966, elevated to Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) in 1980. In 2014, UNESCO designated the vineyards of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato a World Heritage Site.

Geography and Climate of Piedmont

Sharing borders with France and Switzerland, Piedmont is nearly encircled by mountains: less than 5% of the region can be classified as flat and vineyards can be found at elevations from 490 to 1,150 feet. The sunny south-facing sites are planted with Nebbiolo; Dolcetto, a black grape, is favored on the cooler sites; and Barbera is found throughout.

Piedmont has chilly nights, foggy mornings (“nebbia” means fog) and long, warm days. This climate contributes to the acidity, freshness and fruit quality of its wines and the ability to age. Though vineyards extend to the Lake Maggiore area, on the border between Italy and Switzerland, most of the best-known, high-quality vineyards are in the communes of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo, the latter of which is home to the UNESCO-recognized Langhe and the Monferrato vineyards. This is home.

Wine Production in Piedmont

Piedmont’s diverse wine stylesmean there is no uniform method of production. But with most wines falling under a DOC or DOCG label, there are rules about which grapes may be used, how and where they are grown, yields and aging requirements in both barrel and bottle to qualify. Some—such as Nebbiolo d’Alba, Barbera d’Asti and Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba—are labelled varietally, reflecting Piedmont’s strong identity as a region of indigenous grapes. Blended wines are on the rise, especially Nebbiolo with Barbera, Merlot, Cabernet or Syrah.

Classification of Wine in Piedmont

Piedmont is the only region in Italy that does not allow production of Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) wine. More than 75% of production is devoted to DOC and DOCG wines, of which there are 41 and 19, respectively the highest any region in Italy.

Famous Wines of Piedmont

Many venerated producers have not only stayed the course in making their signature wines but have played major roles in reviving the grapes at risk of extinction: Bruno Giacosa and Alfredo Currado, of Vetti, resurrected Arneis; Elvio Cogno brought back Nascetta; and Walter Massa is considered the modern godfather of Timorasso.

Piedmont has a wealth of quality producers, and some of the iconic estates others are smaller family run wineries of equal flair and devotion to their art.

Fun Facts About Piedmont

Known for its hazelnuts, white truffles and wine, Alba was named a UNESCO “City of Creative Gastronomy” in 2017.

Pastry maker Pietro Ferrero founded The Ferrero Group, the confectionary brand, in Alba in 1946. To stretch out his supply of chocolate, he added hazelnuts to the mix and called it “Super Crema.” Some 20 years later, it became the basis for Nutella.

The town of Carmagnola, about 20 miles south of Turin, is the site of a 10-day festival dedicated to peppers. In 2010, the town entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for making the largest peperonata—an Italian pepper stew—ever made. Weighing 2,633 pounds, it beat the previous record of 1,102 pounds.